Critical Acumen

Critical Acumen

"For people who have no critical acumen, a state is a mythical entity, for those who think critically it is a rational fiction, created by man in order to facilitate human coexistence."

~Friedrich Dürrenmatt (1921–1990), Swiss dramatist, novelist, essayist. Trans. by Gerhard P. Knapp (1995). Czechoslovakia 1968 (1968).

What's so wrong with belief?

I suppose, really, that it's not so much that I am bothered by Dürrenmatt's gender-exclusive language which was used so commonly in his era-- nor do I fret about the original context from which this quote is taken. It is more a thing of general discontentment which I feel from the deeper notion that somehow the sharper minds are those of us who purposefully design and create meaning to attach to purpose vs. those who refuse to acknowledge the possibility there could be any validity or usefulness at all. ...Are there no other plausible alternative perspectives? What's so wrong with the observation of the divine around us, and the subsequent acknowledgment of its meaning and eternal quality?

Would matter cease to exist if our ribonucleic chains had somehow never coded in just the precise way to create intelligence? Of course not! Or at least I don't believe so, though I can see how someone could clearly make a case against my thesis.

...and now that I've facilitated a conversation point (dare I say a #DeepStuff)...

...ready, set, GO!